By Nancy K. Crevier

The 19th Newtown Woman’s Club, GFWC, Inc Christmas ornament will be available beginning Monday, September 4, when club member Lorraine VanderWende will be set up at the C.H. Booth Library on Main Street just prior to and during the 45th Annual Labor Day Parade.

This year’s pewter ornament depicts the A.G. Baker Building in Hawleyville, which today houses Mission Allergy. The building, located near the once heavily traveled rail line in Hawleyville, was erected in 1891 by Alpheus G. Baker as a furniture showroom. Mr Baker accommodated waiting passengers in a waiting room there decorated with his furnishings.

The building served a number of other businesses following Mr Baker’s death in 1900, including the Samual A. Blackman grocery store, and the site of the Upham tea bag business.

The ornament, as with the previous 18 ornaments, is crafted by Woodbury Pewterers, Inc of Woodbury. A complete story about the image, written by town historian Dan Cruson, is included with each ornament.

The cost of each ornament is $10. The Newtown Woman’s Club, GFWC, Inc uses the funds raised from the sale of the ornament to support local civic organizations.

The pewter ornament makes a beautiful hostess gift, and many Newtown families collect the ornaments. An ornament from the year a family moved into town also makes a thoughtful gift. After September 4, the 2006 A.G. Baker ornament can be obtained at the C.H. Booth Library, The Drug Center, Lexington Gardens, Edmond Town Hall, Joy’s Hallmark, or The Newtown Bee.

Ornaments from previous years, which have included scenes of the Meeting House, Edmond Town Hall, The Newtown Bee, The General Store, the Yankee Drover and the C.H. Booth Library, among others, are available at the library or by contacting Mary Antey, 426-9787, or Lorraine VanderWende, 426-4865.